Cement Americas

NOV-DEC 2011

Cement Americas provides comprehensive coverage of the North and South American cement markets from raw material extraction to delivery and tranportation to end user.

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FEATURE LAFARGE LAFARGE MARKS CANADA'S NATIONAL PRECAST DAY WITH HABITAT HOME PLAN nounced participation in a local Habitat for Humanity Net Zero energy duplex project. The producer contin- ued to spotlight the project—the first of its kind in Canada—on October 6, when Lafarge opened its Cal- gary precast operation to about 700 community and construction industry guests. Both events were timed around the Canadian Precast/Prestressed Concrete In- stitute-designated National Precast Day, now in its 13th year and observed in plants across the provinces the first week of October. Scheduled to commence later this fall, the Habitat D for Humanity Edmonton project is in partnership with Edmonton-based architect and consulting engineering giant Stantec, and will be a sustainable, Net Zero en- ergy home constructed almost entirely of high per- formance precast concrete. The two-story, 1,560-sq.-ft. duplex's innovative design, coupled with sustainable materials, will help create what the sponsors see as the ultimate energy-efficient precast concrete home. Precast products used to make the duplex will in- clude insulated precast concrete sandwich panels (R- 44) for basement and exterior walls; 6-in.-thick precast demising shear wall between the suites; 10-in. pre- stressed hollowcore floor and roof slabs; precast steps, stairs and landings; precast balcony; and two precast "living wall" planters. All totaled, the frame of the struc- ture will be constructed from more than 80 precast concrete pieces assembled on site. All of the home's aggregates, cement and gypsum wallboard will be sup- plied by Lafarge. Using an existing habitat site as a theoretical test fit, the Habitat Net Zero Prototype was developed to re- spect existing site constraints, typical habitat floor plans, and city development regulations. Precast con- crete panels also had to be developed in a manner that they could be easily fabricated and altered within La- 18 uring an October 4 open house that drew 500 students, architects and engineers to its Ed- monton precast plant, Lafarge Canada an- The Habitat Net Zero prototype was developed as a collabo- rative project supplying a social, innovative and affordable housing option to urban infill developments. This pilot proj- ect was implemented to supply Edmonton's Habitat for Hu- manity with their first net-zero home developed as a precast concrete housing unit. Rendering: Stantec Architecture Ltd. farge's standard form liners and pouring beds. Once these structural and dimensional limitations were un- derstood, the moulding and manipulation of existing plans could take shape. While the footprint and orientation of the units were to remain fixed, due to existing permitting, the units were manipulated slightly to provide private cov- ered entrances, as well as second floor projections, which eroded away at the original symmetrical façade. Each unit was now treated as an individual piece forming a whole and allowed each to form their own identity responding to site, solar, and abutting land- scape conditions. The building will draw heat from beneath the ground via geothermal energy storage. Passive solar heating CEMENT AMERICAS • November/December 2011 • www.cementamericas.com

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